1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for producing information cards on which various data such as personal information are recorded, and more particularly to an information card producing device intensively incorporating a plurality of recording units necessary for recording information on an information card, which includes one or more printer units for printing visible data such as letters, images and the like on the card, a magnetic encoder for magnetically recording various information data on the card, and an IC memory reader/writer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have been adopted information card producing devices for the purpose of printing visible information such as letters, bar code patterns, pictures and the like on the surface of an information card serving as an information recording medium such as ID (identification) plastic cards, credit plastic cards and IC cards, and magnetically or electronically recording various information on a magnetic stripe formed on the surface of a card or a built-in IC memory. In most cases, thermal transfer printers have been conveniently used for printing the visible information such as images.
The thermal transfer printers are put to its proper use in accordance with types of information. That is, a thermal wax-transfer printer is applied for printing two-gradation (monochrome) images such as letters, and a dye-sublimation printer having excellent representability is suitable for printing multi-gradation color images such as a photograph. According to the usage of the information card, recording units including one or more thermal transfer printers and a magnetic encoder are needed for the information card producing device.
In a conventional information card producing device, the aforesaid recording units are arranged on the line along a straight and slender card path formed for transferring an information card while recording data on the card. Where the information data are required to be recorded on both sides of the card, the information card producing device is often provided with a means for turning the card upside down to record the information data on both surfaces of the card.
The information card producing device having the aforenoted recording units and card turning means is taught by, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,326,179 to Fukai et al. One example in which a protective film coating unit for thermally transferring a protective film onto the surface of a recording card is disposed in juxtaposition to a recording unit as noted above is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,343 to Takanashi et al. Thus, components which have been proposed so far can be assembled in the information card producing device as required for the purposes.
However, in any case, from the point of view of the function and structure of the conventional device, the constituent elements of the device such as the recording unit, magnetic encoder and protective film transferring means must be basically disposed straight on the line along a long card feeding path.
Thus, in order for providing the information card producing device with various functions, the card feeding path is required to be more elongated so as to arrange all the elements for fulfilling the desired functions on the straight line. That is, since the information card producing device fundamentally necessitates a blank card supply unit and a card discharge unit, it is simply surmised that the whole length of the device having printing units, magnetic encoder and card turning means becomes over at least four or five times as long as the length of the card. Accordingly, the device singularly lengthens compared with the width of the device and is made unsightly so much as to be incongruous with peripheral components as one of office automation equipments and so forth. Therefore, the long device becomes awkward to handle and not sufficiently unmarketable.
When an error in writing information data to the card occurs in the magnetic encoder at worst, such a faulty card should be rejected and selectively discharged to a portion other than a discharge portion to which rightly recorded cards are discharged. However, in the card producing device in which the component elements are arranged on the line along the straight card feeding path extending from a card entrance to a card exit, the card reject portion serving as a second card exit is difficult to dispose.
In general, an ordinary information card producing device is provided with a recording unit capable of printing or recording information data on one surface of the card. However, there are devices provided with card turning means for turning over the card so as to select one of the surfaces of the card according to the purposes for which the card is used as disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Patents.
The card turning means is disposed on the card feeding path, and commonly comprises pairs of rollers for holding the card in turning. The card turning means however requires a complicated mechanism and highly skilled controlling technique for preventing the card held by the rollers from being dislocated during the turning operation. However, disadvantageously, the complicated card turning mechanism found in the conventional device suffers from operational inefficiency and instability, and inevitably turns out to be expensive.
One object of the present invention is to provide an information card producing device having a simple structure capable of intensively incorporating recording units such as printing means and a magnetic encoder, card supply unit and card discharge unit, which is well-matched as one of components constituting an office automation equipment or the like and can be heightened in marketability and handling property.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an information card producing device capable of rationally arranging a plurality of recording units including printing, means and a magnetic encoder along a card transfer portion so as to stably transfer and turn over an information card fed through the card transfer portion, thereby to produce high quality information-recorded cards.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an information card producing device having card turning means capable of stably and accurately turning the card without bringing about dislocation of the card by use of a reliable and case control system when turning over the card in a card transfer portion, thereby to increase the accuracy of writing data and stability.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an information card producing device having a card reject portion capable of rejecting a card deemed as faulty upon verifying information data recorded on the information card, which is rationally arranged in order along with a card supply portion and a card discharge portion.
To attain the objects described above according to this invention, there is provided an information card producing device comprising two or more recording units including printing means, which are vertically arranged one over another, and a plurality of card turning units for transferring a recording medium relative to the recording units and turning the recording medium card.
The recording units are arranged vertically one over another in a recording portion, thus intensively incorporating in order the constituent components in the information card producing device. Thus, the information card producing device can be neatly designed and improved on handling and installing properties.
The recording units may incorporate a magnetic encoder capable of magnetically recording various information data. It is desirable to use a thermal transfer printer as the printing means, which can selectively adopt a thermal wax-transfer ink ribbon or a dye-sublimation ink ribbon.
Two-gradation images such as letters and bar code patterns may be printed with thermal wax-transfer ink, and multi-gradation images such as full color photographs may be printed with dye-sublimation ink. Even though printers of different types are incorporated as the recording units according to the purposes for which they are used, the recording units can be rationally arranged vertically, thus to increase designing, handling and installing properties.
There are placed a card supply portion on one side of the recording portion and a card discharge portion on the other side of the recording portion, so that a card transfer portion is disposed between the recording portion and the card supply portion or the card discharge portion, so as to place card turning portions by the sides of the respective recording units arranged vertically one over another.
Each card turning portion comprises pairs of rollers for holding the card, a rotating frame for supporting the rollers, which is rotatable about a rotating shaft, rotational driving means for causing the aforementioned rollers to rotate on their own axes to feed the card held by the rollers, and revolving means for rotating said rotating frame to cause the rollers to revolve around the aforementioned rotating shaft.
Turning or direction-changing of the card is fulfilled by operating the revolving means while holding the card between the paired rollers without rotating the rollers on their own axes. The prevention of rotation of the rollers can prevent the card from being dislocated during revolution of the rollers.
Transferring of the card between the recording units of the recording portion is performed by driving the rotational driving means in one direction while holding the card by the paired rollers. To change the direction in which the card is transferred, the rotating frame may be turned round at a prescribed angle.
Other objects and features of the present invention will be hereinafter explained in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.